Life has been all about this word: movement.
2013 has been quite a magical year. I've traveled more this year than any year previous for both work and pleasure, my business is growing in spades and I experience a big 'life milestone' I have been savoring. The life milestone: buying a building!

This building:

(well, half of it. The half with 821 on it.)

The building is located in a National Historic Village. I live within a 3 block radius of a big community pool, ~15 restaurants (from lunch places to fine dining), 3 coffee spots, ~15 shops and a variety of parks. Downtown Cincinnati (which is right on the river) is a WALK away from my front door and if you walk out into my street, you can see the stadium at the end of it. We are about a 3 block walk from the Ohio River and this:

This is at the end of my street.

Our building was built somewhere in the 1860s. The floor joists in the basement and original stone foundation tell a lot about the house. You put your hand up against the stones in the basement and you can just feel the 'juice' of the century it has lived through.

The building is 3 floors. I now possess a space with several bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a walk in closet with two windows and a shower ROOM. We have an alley on the side of the house that gets a constant breeze and a small backyard perfect for two small beagles.

My neighbors are all right around my age and we like each other. We hang out. ALREADY!

Getting here has taken a lot of work, a lot of patience and a lot of perseverance.

And the house is a total blank slate. It was rehabbed by an organization in the City of Covington, KY so the interior is new. New bamboo floors, new walls, new insulation, new wiring, new plumbing, new appliances, new cabinets. New. It's a new house inside an old house.

I'm posting a few pictures so you can see the interior of the house. The ceilings are huge and the lines of the house are fantastic. We have a total blank slate.

The neighborhood is incredible. Shops, places to eat, places to sit, lots of old trees, murals, a fountain....it's just really special.

And the movement I've experienced this month has exhausted me. Moving, first of all, is not fun. But, dispersing items among 3 floors is a little intense. My legs are now used to a three floor house, but that first week was rough. As I write this, I am hoping to just rest tomorrow.

Things that are upcoming:

Watercolor Fashion Illustration Workshop | I'm bringing in Hello Claire from NYC to teach a two-hour seminar on fashion illustration. She is the real deal. Visit her website here. If you are in Cincinnati and available on Sunday, July 7 from 1-3, you can take one of four seats available to attend. Details and registration here. You will learn fashion illustration from a master. I am so excited to bring this to Cincinnati.

Custom Monogrammed Leather Fortune Cookie | My favorite gift to make and give can now be added to your arsenal of coolness. I'll be offering a few of these this summer too. Details here.

I also want to mention a project I was very lucky to work on. It just launched. Those of you that are long time readers will know that I am a 200 hour registered yoga teacher. Working on this project has meant more to me than I can say, so I won't try. Anyway, it launched, and I'm really excited to share it with you: www.yogainternational.com Please sign up for a free account and explore.